A Hunter's Hero
by Gaston's Huntress
Summary: I'm Kainda; daughter of Gaston, the greatest hunter there ever was. But you probably know me as Red Riding Hood. The story you know has made me seem like some sort of legend, but that story is not true. My father was taken by royal guards; which can only be the work of Prince Adam and Belle who have wanted my father dead. With the help of loner Jim Hawkins, I will find my father.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: the main character is an OC and her name is Kainda, which is pronounced "kah-een-dah".**

* * *

It was just before two in the morning and the tavern would be closing soon. Most of the last call crowd had already left; some stumbling out together, holding each other up. Others were escorted out by their bitter wives who made sure to shoot the dirtiest of looks at the bar maids, Vanessa and Megara.

Vanessa was wiping down the tables while Megara counted tips. Sixteen-year-old Kainda stood behind the bar, cleaning the dishes. Her father, Gaston, owned the tavern but he retired to their apartment above the tavern an hour ago after the rowdy crowd had left; leaving Kainda in charge. While she dried a beer mug, she noticed Vanessa rolling her eyes impatiently at the one customer left in the tavern.

No one seemed to know who he was, but he was there at closing time every night. He was a young man, but he was disheveled and looked like he's been homeless for months; which seemed to make him look older. He always wore the same torn overcoat and his pale skin was overcome with black, scruffy facial hair. He was now bent over the small wooden table he always sat at, gripping the handle of his half full mug. Vanessa maneuvered around him and began tacking the stools upside down on the tables around him. Though he stayed passed closing and rarely paid for his drinks, Gaston allowed him to stay and made sure the girls always treated him like every other high-tipper. Kainda didn't know his name, but every once in a while she heard one of the other men call him Sailor.

"I'm leaving," Meg announced. She divvied out the tips, then grabbed her shawl and strolled out the back door.

Vanessa walked over to the bar and tossed her rag on it. "I'm heading out, as well. Will you be all right?"

Kainda glanced over at the man. "Yeah. I'll be fine. He never causes any trouble."

Vanessa nodded. "I'll see you tomorrow night, Kainda."

"Good night."

Vanessa stuck her share of the tips in her corset and then followed Meg through the kitchen and out the back door. Two o'clock came a couple minutes later. The man they call Sailor muttered a good night to Kainda without looking at her and stumbled out the door. Kainda walked after him and was just preparing to lock up when an older man erupted through the door. He ignored Kainda's wary look as he stomped towards the bar. He slumped down in a stool. Kainda sighed audibly and sulked back behind the bar.

Kainda removed the dirty rag. "What can I get you?" She balled up the rag and tossed it to the side.

The man looked up at her and she saw his face for the first time. She recognized him immediately as Minister Frollo from the church across the square. He could often be seen at the brothel a little ways down from the tavern reciting scripture and branding women as demons, witches and temptresses and making sure they knew they were going to Hell.

"I don't care. Just get me something," he said.

Kainda picked up one of the mugs she just finished cleaning, stuck it under the nozzle, then pulled the lever towards her. When the mug was full she set in front of him. He made no attempt to drink the beer; he just continued to watch her.

"It's not appropriate for a young girl to work at a tavern," the minister said.

"It's not appropriate for a minister to be in a tavern," Kainda retorted.

He didn't seem to be listening to her. "First you start out as a bar maid and the next thing you know you're working at the brothel; clouding the mind of a righteous man and tempting him to forsake God and his morals." Frollo finally took a sip of his beer. He made a face at it, but drank some more anyway.

Kainda arched her eyebrow at him. "I'm nothing like those girls."

Frollo snorted. "All females are the same." He eyed her; no doubt picturing her in one of the skimpy outfits the girls at the brothel wore. Minister Frollo had a reputation for taking advantage of young girls and then blaming them for "corrupting" him.

Kainda was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the way he was looking at her. She picked up a clean rag and decided now was a good time to wipe down the sailor's table. She rounded the bar, but Frollo stood up and blocked her path. He downed the rest of his beer, then slammed the mug on the bar.

"You're not like those girls, are you?" he slurred. "You're pure; untouched by another man. Just as God intended."

Kainda didn't say anything. He didn't give her a chance to. Frollo reached out his bony fingers and placed his hand over the front of her skirt. In one swift movement, Kainda grabbed his hand, pinned it down on the bar, pulled the knife she always kept in her belt and stabbed it through his hand. Frollo screamed loudly as blood began to pour from his hand.

Kainda twisted the knife and dug it deeper so it was stuck in the wooden bar top. She heard heavy footsteps above them and within seconds her father was bounding down the stairs. He took a moment to survey the situation. Kainda moved away from Frollo, but left the knife in his hand. Frollo was desperately trying to pull the knife out, but he was too weak.

"What the hell happened?" Gaston bellowed. He stormed over to Frollo and yanked the knife out with ease. He tossed it onto the bar. It skidded a few inches, leaving a trail of blood splatters in its wake.

Frollo clutched his hand and collapsed onto his stool. "That witch took advantage of my weakened state and tried to seduce me and then lost control and tried to stab me."

Gaston turned sharply towards his daughter. Kainda rolled her eyes. "That is not what happened. He placed his hand between my legs and I defended myself."

Now Gaston was furious. His daughter never lied to him. This perverted "man of God" had touched his daughter inappropriately and then had the nerve to insult her. Gaston seized the old man roughly by the collar and lifted him to his feet. "If you _ever_ touch my daughter again I will kill you myself!" He dragged the minister to the door and tossed him out. He locked the door, then faced Kainda. "What were you _thinking_, Kainda?" he demanded.

"I was defending myself!"

"You stabbed a minister! Do you have any idea how that's going to affect business when word gets out of what you did?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

"Call out for me. I am your father, I'm supposed to protect you."

"I don't need you to protect me; I can take care of myself."

Gaston picked up the knife and wiped the blood off on his shirt before handing it back to Kainda. "I know you can. And if this were any other circumstance, I would be proud of you for handling yourself so well. But men of the church are highly regarded in this village and you could be arrested for what you did. It was careless and irresponsible. You leave me with no choice to punish you for this."

Kainda bit her lip. "What will my punishment be?"

His expression changed. He no longer looked angry, but Kainda couldn't place this emotion. "You can't go hunting with me in the morning."

Kainda gaped at him. "What? That's so unfair! You always take me hunting with you!"

"I can't have you behaving like this." Gaston looked away from her. "I'm very disappointed in you, Kainda."


	2. Chapter 2

I want to address people think I'm reviewing my own stories; it's ridiculous and I really don't appreciate people accusing me of it. I'm new to writing fan fiction, but I do read it and I know some other writers; whom I asked to review my story. If they have more than one account, whatever. But those aren't all mine. Why would one person even have that many accounts? This is the only account I have. I like reading fan fiction, but I never really thought about writing it until now; which is why my account is new. But, I'm not new to the site itself so I have actually made some friends on the site who read and reviewed my story for me. Is it really that hard for people to believe that my friends all reviewed my story? It's actually reviews like these that made me not want to write fan fiction in the first place. And it's not fair for you to judge my story based on accusations and assumptions that aren't true. I am friends with most of the people who reviewed my story after I asked them to. If you're just going to write reviews judging me because I got a bunch of reviews on my first chapter (because evidently it's impossible for someone to have friends on this site who review your story when you ask them to); don't waste your time or mine. I'm not going to read them and I will not address this again; just leave me and my story alone. And don't bother leaving reviews on this post trying to debate me, defend yourself or prove something where there's nothing to prove; I'm going to ignore and delete those reviews. Please keep the reviews relevant to the story only and stop trying to tear people down.


End file.
